<p>I have a novel idea for Niagra. Can you split off from your folks for a two day bit and stay with your friends, covering that area while M&D play honeymooners? (Or is it essential the whole family experiences Niagra together?) Just an idea to get a few more schools in. </p>
<p>The Syracuse/Hamilton/Colgate run is very nice, though these schools are more on the isolated/drinking side than your wish list... Maybe Smith would be wise for a safer school with excellent resources. </p>
<p>SBmom: That is an interesting idea. I'll ask...although I do think it is important to them that I see Niagara and have a familial bonding experience 'oohing and ahing' over the scenery.</p>
<p>I confess. I've been to Niagra Falls and was not overwhelmed really. Maybe it's being from the West and being used to the Sierras etc. Parts of the Delaware River Water Gap are wilder and very beautiful. But hey, they are your parents. Be nice to them....</p>
<p>The Chiiguin, It seems that you have two different trips going on here -- a sightseeing trip to the East Coast for the family and a college appraisal trip for you. I think you can make everyone happy, but you may have to limit your range for both objectives.</p>
<p>There are dozens of excellent colleges in the Eastern corridor from Maine to DC. With your statistics and accomplishments you have a good shot (though not guaranteed of course) to get into any of them. If Pomona and Stanford are your benchmarks, it sounds like you are considering two very different streams -- the big research university and the intimate LAC. That's okay as finding out what's the best for YOU is the whole point of visiting. </p>
<p>Since you seem to have some good safety and reach options close to home and since your time is limited I would concentrate on the super-selectives in the East Coast. If after this trip you decide that you definitely want to study on the East Coast you will have no problem adding safeties and matches to your list. For now, I would choose several schools that are like Stanford and several that are like Pomona. Within that group you could also get a good range of large/small, urban/suburban/rural, liberal/less so etc.</p>
<p>This is what I'd do:
Fly into DC. See JHU, but skip the others for now. Stay two nights and see the sights.
Drive up to Philadelphia. Visit Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr and Penn. Do the museums and historical sights.
On to New York. Stay three nights. If you like the idea of living in Manhattan see Columbia and Barnard.
Take a side trip to either Yale or Princeton or both.
Up to Providence for Brown.
On to Amherst, then Williams.
Go straight west from Williams, 300 miles to Niagara Falls! Fly home from Buffalo. </p>
<p>PS I hope you get to Williams. The impressionist collection at the Clark Museum will knock your socks off.</p>
<p>Since your dad says that you should definitely go to DC, you should visit Georgetown U.
In addition, allthough George Washington U. doesn't meet most of the requirements on your list, it is a highly underrated school, and extremely interesting. It is definitely worth a visit and it may change your mind about a few things.</p>
<p>I think I like Momrath's itinerary. My kids go to camp in the Berkshires near Williams college. You can pick-up the NYS thruway extension in the area which would take you directly to Niagara Falls. I will only add that you should look at U of Rochester. (it's directly on the route) It is a great school for neuroscience-pre-med etc. And a kid with your stats from Washington State who went to see the campus- I suspect U of R could offer you big bucks in merit aid.</p>
<p>Momrath's tour makes logistical sense but (1) it skips the family friends, and (2) it results in a menu of super reach schools (just based on extreme selectivity, not OPs excellence.) </p>
<p>I think it is important to see a couple of matches/safetys too, and to visit them/interview. U of Rochester, TCNJ, maybe Trinity, G Washington, etc.</p>
<p>Really though Rochester has probably one of the better neuroscience programs, and also one of the better pre-med programs, and seems like a good match (and safety stat-wise), why skip it? It definitely has the grecko-roman architecture that he seems to enjoy. I mean rankwise it probably doesnt match princeton, but in the departments of sciences etc there is a lot of prestige.
Plus if he's going to have to go to niagara anyways, he might as well visit and interview, that way if he gets into a financial bind, he's looking at an easy 20k scholarship from them, which isnt bad for a top notch science school with honors in the program he's going to (neuroscience). oh yeah, and you can fly out from rochester int'l rather than go to like buffalo, that is if you visit.</p>
<p>ROC International is only 10 minutes away from URochester...</p>
<p>Mentioned the UDub in an earlier post, as some of the leading cancer research is there and you had this interest and EC. A safety for you if want to stay on the left coast...</p>
<p>thechiiguin - Having grown-up just outside Philly in a blue collar town a few miles from Swarthmore, a sightseeing not-to-miss is a ride through the Amish country of Lancaster County only 40 miles from Philly. You will be immersed in another century and lifestyle of horse drawn buggies, picture perfect farms, and other rural delights. However, avoid the tourist trap delights in Lancaster County that are so abundant along the main roads.</p>
<p>While there consider visiting Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster. Also, close to Philly (northeast about 50 miles or so) is Lehigh University and Lafayette College that also might be worth a browse.</p>
<p>sv2 - A road from Philly that goes through the heart of the Amish country in Lancaster County is Route 30 (aptly named Lancaster Avenue) which winds through the wealthiest blue blood suburbs of Philly (called the "Main Line" which Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, and Villanova University abut). If you go down Lancaster Avenue, once you are in Lancaster County be sure to take a two lane road left or right off Lancaster Avenue and then wind through the Amish countryside taking any of many country roads you will find. You will be off the touristy drag (which is Lancaster Avenue) and you will see some of the most authentic and pretty farmlands and unique people anywhere. If possible, park your car, meander a bit, and drink in some of the 19th century and the way it used to be before electricity.</p>
<p>If you want to get there (Lancaster County) faster, mapquest up a route from Philly that will take you up the Schulkyll Expressway (north and west of Philly); intersect the Pennsylvania Turnpike at Valley Forge; and then about 50 miles west on the Turnpike to the Lancaster exits. Then the wandering through the Amish countryside can start. The Amish countryside covers many square miles with over 10,000 persons of Amish descent. It is amazing to think that a metro area of over 4 million people (Philly) is just a stone's throw away.</p>
<p>A potential problem with Momrath's itinerary is that it may incur signficant cost increases associated with a one-way car rental dropoff and increased airfares as Buffalo may not be serviced by some of the low-cost carriers like Southwest and Jet Blue.</p>